Sunday, 24 July 2011

Britain is no country and Europe is no continent for old men

Research commissioned by 'Age UK' has shown that 'age' is the most widely experienced form of discrimination in Europe with 64% of those interviewed in the UK and 44% across Europe, judging 'age discrimination' as a serious problem.

* old men and women in Britain are more likely to report experiencing lack of respect, such as being ignored and patronised, than being subjected to more blatant forms of discrimination, such as being insulted or abused.

* the majority of those interviewed across all counties said they would find it easier to accept a suitably qualified 30 year old as a boss, than a 70 year old with exactly the same qualifications.

* 35% said they had experienced unfair treatment because of their age, compared to 25% who had experienced sex discrimination and 17% who had experienced race discrimination.

* some 64% of those interviewed in Britain judged age discrimination as a serious problem, compared with 44% across Europe and the British figure was second behind that of France at 68%.

Michelle Mitchell, Director of 'Age UK' said:

" The research shows the disturbing levels of age discrimination in Britain and Europe. The British Government must not loose anytime in pressing ahead with the ban on harmful age discrimination and ensure that older people have equal access to goods and services in the public and private sector.

As well as strong laws we need a change in attitudes. It is time to stop treating older people as second class citizens. We need to look beyond someone’s age at their individual strengths and strive for a society which enables older people to remain active and independent."

P.S One redeeming feature about Britain, revealed by the Survey :

British people were shown to be above the European average when it came to believing the importance of being unprejudiced towards other age groups, however, while older people in Britain were looked upon as more friendly than by the rest of the Europe old people were also thought of as being less competent.